Friendrymat
by Nagia
Summary: [For just a moment... everything felt almost normal.] Ashley Graham's life will never be normal again. But you can't blame a girl for trying, can you? Especially when she has as crazy a roommate as she does. [RE4]


**title:** Friendrymat  
**rating: **PG-13  
**wordcount:** 857  
**summary:** For just a moment... everything felt almost-- normal. Ashley Graham's life will never be normal again. But you can't blame a girl for trying, can you? Especially when she has as crazy a roommate as she does. RE4  
**notes: **Cara, Tracy, and Lacie are all OCs in a future RE4 project (currently with the working title "Whitehorse"). In said project, it becomes clear that Cara has invented the term "Cpunk" ("Christian Punk"), although this concept is presented as factual and uninvented in this short work.

* * *

**Friendrymat**

Ashley Graham came out of the bathroom and blinked. Her roommate, Cara Barter (or Inanna, as she called herself) was in full "Cpunk" regalia. The first time she'd seen her roommate like this, it had been an amazing shock.

There was just something about a self-proclaimed Christian girl in a black button-down shirt with the sleeves cut off, with maching slacks and sleeveless vest-- both saftey-pinned.

She had been startled by the blindingly shiny mock combat boots, and captivated by the enormous amount of silver bangles.

The chunky silver cross, held tight to her throat with a studded collar, had been an item Ashley'd wanted for herself.

But then she'd realized that she _enjoyed_ colour. She genuinely _loved_ matching accessories and articles of clothing, actually cared about belt and purse versus shoes, and wanted to present the best-clothed image she could. So she'd stuck to her own wardrobe, occasionally borrowing jewelry (that cross was too good to pass up if she was wearing a dark colour!) or shoes, if she could.

Though Cara-- Inanna-- tended to dress and look odd, they got along perfectly. Through acclimation, and compromise, and late nights eating their RA's horrible burnt cookies and studying for tests, they had forged they had forged a lasting and amazing friendship. According to her suitemate, Tracy, Inanna had been distraught upon hearing that Ashley had been kidnapped. It had distressed so much that she hadn't attended class for over a week.

Their reunion had been amazing. Tearful, yes, but also laughter and smiles and hugging, and "oh god I missed you", "oh god I was worried about you", and "I love you babe, but if you ever do that to us again, I'll freak".

So odd as her roomie was, she was used to it. They had been roommates freshman year as well (which had actually only been a year ago, but thanks to Spain, it felt like it had been ages and ages ago).

Leon, however, had not had her experience. The first time he had seen Inanna, he had been somewhat puzzled, caught between intrigued and disturbed and apathetic.

This would be his first time to see Inanna in her "Nerfertiti mode".

Ashley had to resist the urge to laugh long and hard when Inanna announced that it was safe to look.

Leon's eyebrow lifted, but the tiny lines around his eyes had moved a bit, and he had that pucker on the bridge of his nose that said he was more than a little startled. "Something special going down tonight?"

"Not really. Just Black Mass." Inanna shrugged.

The eyebrow rose even higher, enough that Ashley thought it would jump off his head. "I thought this was--"

She knew where this would go. She intervened, touching his arm. It made him startle a little, so she backed away and murmured an apology before saying, "She's just joking. Inanna likes to do crazy jokes like that."

Inanna, her arm sliding across Ashley's shoulders, threw her head back and laughed. "The way I see it, if one of us likes baking cooking, the other should play with guns."

"Cookies are Lacie's thing!" Ashley mock-whined even as Leon grinned and drawled, "Leave the playing with guns to me."

It was at that point that Tracy, suitemate number two, walked in. "Inanna, are you going to the Choir concert in town?"

"Yup. You?"

"Have to-- I had to pay a fine last semester. I figure it's better to go every time than to forget."

Inanna and Tracy turned to her, expectant looks on their faces.

Ashley sighed. She didn't want to go. She wanted to stay in the dorm, hide in her laptop, listen to all the songs on her playlist.

"I think I'll--" she began in her tired 'wanna stay in' voice, but her friends' expressions turned unhappy, so she took a breath and continued with, "go too."

Really, she just wanted to paint, or draw with charcoal, or do _something_ with her eyes and her hands and her mind.

"Which means Leon is coming!" Inanna bounced up and down, acting for all the world like an eighth-grade girl-- with an odd twist. "He should wear one of Lacie's skirts!"

"Not happening." His voice was flat. He was clearly Not Amused By This.

She heard a metallic click and knew he was already checking the magazine of his handgun.

Within a few minutes, after he'd grabbed a jacket and Ashley had refreshed her makeup and changed her shoes and shirt to something more formal (and adding a coat at Leon's insistence), they were ready to go.

"Leaving, Lacie!" Tracy called as Inanna locked the suite door.

There was no answer, as usual. Lacie was probably in the kitchen, baking.

For a moment, just a moment, despite the fact that she had an armed bodyguard who actually travelled with her, despite the tiny scars from where that machine had removed the Plagas, despite the fact that she was constantly looking over her shoulder, she felt...

Blessedly normal.

Beautifully, blissfully, blessedly, _normal_.

And then Leon threatened to pistol-whip the next girl to suggest he wear a skirt.

EL FIN


End file.
